Djokovic, Azarenka show off hula hoop skills at Wimbledon

At Wimbledon, when it rains it pours, and the elite, highly tuned athletes competing for what’s possibly tennis’ most prized championship must find a way to stay loose.

Back in the days of the wooden racket, some light stretching and perhaps a brisk walk provided sufficient muscle stimulation as one waited out a passing shower at the All-England club. However, given modern advances in sports science, contenders like World No. 2 Novak Djokovic now turn to superior methods and technology to ensure they return to the lawn as warm or warmer as when the referee stopped play.

Thanks to this video from Andrea Petkovic’s YouTube account, the world now has access to such methods. As you can see, using a device apparently known as a “hula hoop,” Djokovic, Viktoria Azarenka, and Andrea Petrovic demonstrate how today’s best remain their best during Wimbledon’s infamous rain delays. Notice the activity also appears to be quite fun, obviously protecting the players from the perils of tensing up mentally.

You may also notice 6’10” Croatian, Ivo Karlovic, employing a more traditional, “throw-back” approach around the 1:05 mark. Probably better than doing nothing, of course, but then I suppose there’s a reason the odds makers have him at 100-1 this year.